New to rooting and I have questions (And will have more I'm sure)

[enfuego360]

OK, over the last 2 days, I have been reading a bunch of threads on rooting my Thunderbolt and installing ROMs. Right now my head is spinning. I have found answers to some of my questions, forgot others and came up with new questions. So instead of spinning my wheels any more, I figured I would ask some questions to clear things up. I figure to keep questions/thoughts organized, I will number them so it will be easier to get responses.

My contract just ended, and while I figure out which phone I am going to get, I figure I would root my Thunderbolt. I am thinking about rooting my phone (1st time ever) next weekend. The rooting process seems to be simple enough... that is unless I run into a problem. I am going to follow the instructions posted in this thread ([ALL IN ONE] The HTC Thunderbolt Tool!). And if I run into any problems, I'll bring them there. I also found this YouTube video to make it even easier:
1
[1] The first question (really just looking for assurance) is, all this does is unlock my phone, correct? [2] No worries about erasing any data (which I believe I read multiple times that it does not)? [3] What about bricking my phone? Can I screw something up during this process? This is why I have not rooted yet. But with a backup of being able to get a new phone with an upgrade, I figured this is the right time to try it.

I think I am fine with all that. The problem I have is with installing ROMs. I've seen all the threads about installing ROMs. Lets start with the apps that are needed. MyBackup is good for backing up call logs, contacts, SMS/MMS messages and calendar entries. I am not sure if I really need this app. My contacts and calendar entries are on Google and I am not sure if I care about backing up my call logs and SMS/MMS messages. [4] Is there any use for this app besides backing up those items? Then you have ROM Manager and Titanium Backup. From what I have read, the best use of these apps is to use Titanium Backup to back up app data and ROM Manager is used to reboot into recovery to install a ROM. [5] Anything I am missing here? [6] As far as Titanium goes, I will use it to backup game data, but what about the speed test app for it's results? [7] I also saw somewhere that Rom Manager can make a backup of your ROM. This is different from the backup that Titanium does, correct? This backup is just for easy switching to a pre-installed ROM? [8] Is there anything else I need to back up?

Now that everything is backed up, I have to find a ROM. [9] Where is the best place to find a list of all the ROMs I can install (hopefully with a description of which ones are the best)? I understand that there are ROMs with Sense 3.0 and 3.5 and so on. And depending on what I want, some ROMs are better then others. [10] But for someone just starting out, what is the best one for me? Any with a pure ICS feel? I'd like to try out something like ICS before I am thrusted into Jelly Bean (thanks HTC and Verizon).

Now that I have a ROM, I place the zip file on the root (top?) of my SD card. Using Rom Manager, reboot the phone into recovery. Then wipe data, cache partition and dalvik cache. [11] is this step erasing the data on my phone now? And lastly, install zip from SD card and reboot. [12] Is that it? Once my phone reboots, am I done? Am I missing anything else?

I have asked a lot of questions (by my count, 12). I am sure I will have more once I read some responses. And if I think of any more questions, I'll just ad them to the list. I really appreciate your help.

 

[mightyfacundo]

First, welcome to the wonderful world of rooting! I'll do my best to answer your questions.

1) Yes, rooting unlocks your phone.
2) The rooting process does not erase any of your data. You will erase all of your data when you flash a new ROM.
3) If you use trter's All-In-One tool, there is no chance of you bricking your phone during the root process.
4) If you don't care about your sms/mms and don't have an app like Note Everything that needs to be backed up, then you're probably right that you don't need My Backup. I still use ROM Manager to save all of my ROMs, but I actually prefer ROM Toolbox Pro instead of Titanium to backup and restore my apps. For me, it just works better, even though other people will swear by Titanium. I haven't used Titanium in a long time though, so I'm not the best person to talk about it.
5) I don't think so.
6) ROM Toolbox Pro allows me to save any app and its data, including the Speedtest.net app.
7) Yep, I use ROM Manager to make a backup of a ROM once I have it all set up. So, once I flash Thunderstick, for instance, I can load up all of my apps and get it set up the way I like. Then, I can save the whole thing, so that if I want to try another ROM, it's easy to come back to the previous one. The backup saves all settings, data, apps, etc.
8) Make sure you make a backup of the stock ROM before you flash a different ROM.
9) You can find ROMs at Rootzwiki, XDA, and other places around the web. I can't guarantee which ones will still have working links because most of the links are pretty old at this point, but the main ROMs should still be accessible. There is a thread in this forum where I have listed some of the more popular ones depending on whether you like Sense or AOSP and depending on which version of Sense you like. There are also ICS ROMs like NuSense and Jester/Liquid ICS that everyone likes. My personal favorite ROM is Thundershed, which is an AOSP ROM and even though it's a Gingerbread ROM, it will give you a very good feel for what ICS is like. Plus, I get better battery life than with any other ROM, and it runs flawlessly on my phone with ADW Launcher EX instead of Go Launcher, which comes with it. (That's just my opinion though. Many people LOVE Go Launcher.)
10) I recommend trying different ROMs until you find the one you like the best. If you want an ICS feel with Sense, then give NuSense a try. If you want more of a pure ICS flavor, try Liquid's ICS build.
11) Place the zip on the root (not in a folder) of your sd card after renaming it PG05IMG on your pc, reboot into recovery, and at the very least you need to wipe data, cache, and dalvik. I would also recommend wiping/formatting all partitions except your sd card. If you're using CWM, I think you'll find them under mounts and storage. If you use 4eXT, there will be an option in the menu to format all partitions except sd card. After you're done wiping, choose to install zip from sd card, find the ROM, install it, choose to reboot the phone.
12) Once it reboots, just set up your phone like you did when you first got it.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[mightyfacundo]

The thread I refer to above is called "How to root" and was started by all4dom. If you scroll down, you'll see it.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Android Central Forums

 

[firepsych]

Mighty,
Step 11 - you rename the rom you're flashing to PG05IMG ? I thought that's what you name the radio and then flash that in HBoot, not Recovery.
Am I confused or did Step 11 somehow end up combining two different processes?
I don't think the OP asked anything about radios. Just trying to clarify.

 

[kraussca]

Fire,
Your right. You SHOULD NOT rename the ROM to PG05IMG and put it on the root of sd card. That is for radios and RUU and is installed through HBoot. A custom ROM will be a zip file stored anywhere on the sd card (as long as you know where it is). You use Recovery to install the ROM from the zip file. Just need to be carefull of which radios you flash (in HBoot) to go along with the ROM (installed in Recovery).

enfuego,

I use to use Gingeritis 3d ROM and really liked it. But now I use NuSense. I just like the whole Sense interface, but to each their own. Just be sure to READ THE INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS before you load any ROM due to some radios work and some do not.

 

[enfuego360]

i really appreciate all of your guys help. like i said yesterday, my head was spinning from all the reading i was doing. it seems easier then when i was reading it yesterday. surprisingly, i never even thought of looking up a youtube video showing what to do. i did, and i found one that basically shows me what you guys said.

anyway, with that said, do i need to worry about kernels and radios? or only if the rom instructions say to install them. because i have no clue what a kernel is. a quick google search will explain that, but i havent done that yet. by the way, i should have the latest radios. i should have the latest ota update, uless one came out recently... which i doubt.

thanks again.

 

[mightyfacundo]

Mighty,
Step 11 - you rename the rom you're flashing to PG05IMG ? I thought that's what you name the radio and then flash that in HBoot, not Recovery.
Am I confused or did Step 11 somehow end up combining two different processes?
I don't think the OP asked anything about radios. Just trying to clarify.

My bad. I wrote it too quickly. Thanks for catching that!

Sent from my ADR6400L using Android Central Forums

 

[mightyfacundo]

i really appreciate all of your guys help. like i said yesterday, my head was spinning from all the reading i was doing. it seems easier then when i was reading it yesterday. surprisingly, i never even thought of looking up a youtube video showing what to do. i did, and i found one that basically shows me what you guys said.

anyway, with that said, do i need to worry about kernels and radios? or only if the rom instructions say to install them. because i have no clue what a kernel is. a quick google search will explain that, but i havent done that yet. by the way, i should have the latest radios. i should have the latest ota update, uless one came out recently... which i doubt.

thanks again.

Don't worry about kernels for now. Each ROM will come with a kernel that works. Some ROMs recommend certain radios, like NuSense, and you rename those and flash them in hboot, as was pointed out previously by kraussca. Remember to erase them from the sd asap after you flash them.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Android Central Forums